09. July 2013

Italian Literature - VSI

I read this book by early August of 2012. Finally got around to note down the 99 Italian authors listed.

 

1 Giacomo da Lentini Sicilian poet 1220
2 Frederick II Emperor, patron of literature, and occasional poet 1224
3 Compiuta Donzella, La Poet 1250
4 Guinizzelli, Guido Bolognese poet 1250
5 Cecco Angiolieri Comic poet 1260
6 Jacopone da Todi Franciscan poet 1266
7 Cavalcanti, Guido Poet 1290
8 Dante Alighieri Poet 1321
9 Petrarch, Francesco Humanist and Italian poet 1334
10 Boccaccio, Giovanni Poet, short-story writer, and humanist 1350
11 Bruni, Leonardo Florentine humanist 1400
12 Vergerio, Pierpaolo Humanist 1400
13 Guarino da Verona Humanist educator 1404
14 Alberti, Leon Battista Humanist and architect 1434
15 Piccolomini, Enea Silvio (Pius II) Humanist and Pope 1435
16 Ficino, Marsilio Tuscan Neoplatonic philosopher 1463
17 Poliziano, Angelo Tuscan humanist and Italian poet 1478
18 Medici, Lorenzo de' Patronof the arts and poet 1479
19 Sannazaro, Iacopo Poet and pastoral writer 1488
20 Boiardo, Matteo Maria Ferrarese epic poet 1494
21 Cereta, Laura Humanist 1499
22 Michelangelo Buonarroti Painter, sculptor, architect, and poet 1505
23 Machiavelli, Niccolo Florentine political thinker and historian 1513
24 Guicciardini, Francesco Florentine historian and political theorist 1513
25 Bembo, Pietro Venetian literary and linguistic theorist and cleric 1525
26 Castiglione, Baldesar Humanist and courtier 1528
27 Ariosto, Ludovico Epic poet and humanist 1532
28 Della Casa, Giovanni Humanist, poet and cleric 1533
29 Colonna, Vittoria Poet 1539
30 Stampa, Gaspara Venetian poet 1553
31 Domenichi, Lodovico Editor and translator 1559
32 Franco, Veronica Venetian poet and courtesan 1576
33 Tasso, Torquato Ferrarese epic and lyric poet 1581
34 Sarpi, Paolo Venetian historian 1582
35 Fonte, Moderata Venetian poet and protofeminist 1592
36 Marino, Giovanbattista Poet 1623
37 Tarabotti, Arcangela Venetian protofeminist 1640
38 Giannone, Pietro Neapolitan lawyer and historian 1706
39 Baffo, Giorgio Venetian dialect poet 1724
40 Metastasio, Pietro Poet and tragedian 1728
41 Vico, Giambattista Neapolitan philosopher 1744
42 Goldoni, Carlo Venetian playwright 1750
43 Parini, Giuseppe Milanese satirical and moral poet 1763
44 Beccaria, Cesare Milanese Enlightenment thinker 1768
45 Alfieri, Vittorio Playwright and autobiographer 1779
46 Fonseca Pimentel, Eleonora Neapolitan poet and journalist 1799
47 Foscolo, Ugo Novelist, poet, and critic 1802
48 Di Breme, Ludovico Romantic polemicist 1810
49 Belli, Giuseppe Gioachino Roman dialect poet 1821
50 Leopardi, Giacomo Poet and thinker 1837
51 Manzoni, Alessandro Milanese poet, tragedian, and novelist 1840
52 De Sanctis, Francesco Neapolitan lterary critic and historian 1847
53 Nievo, Ippolito Novelist 1858
54 Carducci, Giosue Poet and scholar 1865
55 Verga, Giovanni Siciian novelist 1881
56 Invernizio, Carolina Novelist 1881
57 Pascoli, Giovanni Poet 1885
58 D'Annunzio, Gabriele Poet and novelist 1893
59 Fogazzaro, Antonio Catholic novelist 1895
60 Croce, Benedetto Philospher and critic 1896
61 Deledda, Grazia Sardinian novelist 1901
62 Aleramo, Sibilla Feminist novelist 1906
63 Ungaretti, Giuseppe Poet 1919
64 Pirandello, Luigi Sicilian playwright 1921
65 Svevo, Italo Triestine novelist 1923
66 Gadda, Carlo Emilio Milanese novelist 1923
67 Montale, Eugenio Poet 1925
68 Moravia, Alberto Roman novelist 1929
69 Silone, Ignazio Novelist 1933
70 Vittorini, Elio Novelist and theorist of culture 1937
71 Brancati, Vitaliano Sicilia novelist 1941
72 Sereni, Vittori Poet 1943
73 Levi, Carlo Piedmontese autobiographical writer and novelist (?) 1945
74 Calvino, Italo Novelist 1947
75 Levi, Primo Piedmontese autobiographical writer and novelist (?) 1947
76 Fortini, Franco Poet and critic 1947
77 Pavese, Cesare Piedmontese novelist 1950
78 Pasolini, Pier Paolo Poet, novelist, journalist, and film-maker 1952
79 Fo, Dario Playwright 1956
80 Sanguineti, Edoardo Critic and avant-garde poet 1960
81 Rosselli, Amelia Poet 1960
82 Sciascia, Leonardo Sicilian novelist 1961
83 Loy, Rosetta Novelist 1961
84 Eco, Umberto Theorist, jurnalist, and novelist 1962
85 Bassani, Giorgio Ferrarese novelist 1962
86 Ginzburg, Natalia Novelist 1963
87 Meneghllo, Luigi Autobiographcal writer and essayist 1964
88 Maraini, Dacia Roman novelist 1966
89 Celati, Gianni Novelist and story-writer 1967
90 Insana, Jolanda Poet 1967
91 Fenoglio, Beppe Piedmontese novelist 1968
92 Zanzotto, Andrea Veneto poet 1968
93 Cavalli, Patrizia Poet 1979
94 Valduga, Patrizia Poet 1982
95 Anedda, Antonella Poet 1988
96 Camilleri, Andrea Sicilian detective novelist 1990
97 Capriolo, Paola Novelist 1992
98 Tabucchi, Antonio Novelist 1994
99 Saviano, Roberto Journalist 2006

 

 

Note that date here refers mostly to the date of the most important works, and if that is not dated in the book, the date is given as the author's birth date (given in the appendix) + 30. The only odd one here is Petrarch - for him I use his birth date plus 30 so that he remains earlier than Boccacio.

 

I picked out 21 more important authors - either mentioned on 10 pages or more in index, or in bibliography has secondary works included dedicated to the author:

 

Dante Alighieri Vita nova (New Life, 1290s); Convivio (The Banquet, 1304-7); De vulgari eloquentia (On Vernacular Eloquence, 1303-5); Divine Comedy (?1307-21) 1321
Petrarch, Francesco Africa(Latin?); Rerum vulgarium fragmenta Francisci Petrarce laureati poete ('Fragments of vernacular matters of Francis Petrarch, laureate poet', better known as Canzoniere or Rime); Triumphi (Triumphs) 1334
Boccaccio, Giovanni Decameron (early 1350s); Filostrato; Teseida; Corbaccio (Crow); De mulieribus claris (On Famous Women, Latin) 1350
Michelangelo Buonarroti [Not given] 1505
Machiavelli, Niccolo Principe (The Prince, c.1513); Discorsi (Discourses, c.1516) 1513
Castiglione, Baldesar Il libro del cortegiano (The Book of the Courtier, 1528) 1528
Ariosto, Ludovico Orlando furioso (The Madness of Orlando, 3rd/final version 1532) 1532
Colonna, Vittoria Rime (1539) 1539
Tasso, Torquato Gerusalemme liberata (Jerusalem Delivered, 1581); Discorsi dell'arte poetica (Discourses on the Poetic Art); Discorsi del poem eroico (Discourses on the HeroicPoem, 1594); Gerusalemme conquistata (Jerusalem Conquered) 1581
Leopardi, Giacomo Canti (Songs, 1837),includes 'La sera del di di festa' (The evening before the holiday); Zibaldone (Commonplace Book); Operette morali (Short Moral Writings) 1837
Manzoni, Alessandro I Promessi sposi (The Betrothed, 1840) 1840
Verga, Giovanni I Malavoglia (The House by the Medlar Tree, 1881); Mastro-don Gesualdo (1888) 1881
D'Annunzio, Gabriele [Not given] 1893
Pirandello, Luigi L'umorismo (1908); Il fu Mattia Pascal (novel); Enrico IV (1922); Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore (Sixe Characters in Search of an Author, 1921) 1921
Svevo, Italo La coscienza di Zeno (Zeno's Conscience, 1923) 1923
Vittorini, Elio Conversazione in Sicilia (Conversation in Sicily, 1937); Uomini e no (Men and Not Men, 1944-5); Il Sempione strizza l'occhio al Frejus (The Simplon [Tunnel] Winks at the Frejus [Tunnel]); Diario in pubblico (Diary in Public, 1957) 1937
Calvino, Italo Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno (The Path to the Spiders' Nests, 1947); I nostri antenati(Our Ancestors, trilogy, 1952-9), includes Il visconte dimezzato (The Cloven Viscount), Il barone rampante (The Baron in the Trees), and Il cavaliere inesistente (The Non-Existent Knight) 1947
Levi, Primo Se questo e un uomo (If This Be a Man, 1947); La chiave a stella (The Wrench, 1978) 1947
Pavese, Cesare La luna e I falo (The Moon and the Bonfires, 1950); Il mestiere di vivere (The Business of Living, posthumous) 1950
Eco, Umberto Il nome della rosa (The Name of the Rose, 1980); Opera aperta (The Open Work, 1962); Il pendolo di Foucault (The Foucault Pendulum, 1988) 1962
Bassani, Giorgio Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini (The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, 1962); L'airone (The Heron, 1968) 1962

 

What does this says?

- 14th c. the "big 3" are clearly the most fundamental: Dante, Petrarch, Boccacio

- High Renaissance (16th c.): Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Castiglione, Ariosto, Colonna, Tasso (all these poets except Machiavelli)

- Then the foundation of modern literature in the generation before Unification: Leopardi (poet), Manzoni (poet/novelist)

- Late 19th c. / early 20th c.: Verga, D'Annunzio (poet), Pirandello (playwright), Svevo

- 20th c. (those born after 1900s): Vittorini, Calvino, Primo Levi, Pavese, Eco, Bassani (all novelists) 

 

 

 

 

Tags: world, canon, western
Comments: 0 (Discussion closed)
    There are no comments yet.